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On Tour in Italy with Robin Bacior
I spent the majority of January exploring Italy with Robin Bacior and her band of blondies as part of a never ending quest to combine all the things I love most in life (travel, food, music, cats and – of course – photography). The five of us piled into a modest sized van which we quickly learned was still too large to drive in almost every Italian city, and the gang cranked out 23 shows in 3 1/2 weeks. I’ll let you do the math on that one.
Technically I was their tour photographer, but I also assumed the role of tour manager — a job I took on proudly but mostly it just involved seeking out cannoli and WiFi passwords and tying Robin’s shoes. I also put together a tour video, set to a newly recorded tune, “For Jim,” which you can watch below.
There were the usual pitfalls that come with touring: the exhaustion of never staying put for more than half a day, not knowing where your next meal is going to come from (or when it’s coming), and the tension that sometimes arises when you have so many different personalities smooshed together for an extended period of time. But I loved it, in spite of all of that. Because at the end of the month, I had an awesome time with a bunch of wonderful people, exploring one of the most amazingly hospitable and beautiful countries I’ve ever been to.
From waking up after our first show to the snow dusted mountains of the North, to going to sleep in bunk beds admidst the bustle of Catania… From maddeningly labyrinthian cities to vineyards tucked inside the valley. Eating sweets in Napoli, cobbling together a drum kit for Jack when the venue didn’t have one, and picking citrus from a new friend’s backyard. There was very little of Italy that we didn’t get to explore. Thank you, Robin, for inviting me along on this mighty adventure!
OMG. Took my breath away.